Photo Courtesy of: http://timothyvollmer.com
Recently, I was cooking dinner at a cottage for a group of guests that included a sommelier and the husband of a chef (talk about pressure!) so the Natalie Maclean site was my first stop in planning a menu. I decided to go with the Pork Tenderloin w/ Spicy Soy Glaze….since I love anything spicy and Asian inspired. I served this with my vietnamese chicken coleslaw salad and coconut rice. The meal was a hit and everyone had seconds. Phew!.
I make my coconut rice in the rice cooker, since it cooks up perfectly fluffy rice every time. I simply replace the water with about 3 parts coconut milk to 1 part chicken broth and add a slice or two of fresh ginger.
Ingredients:
2 pork tenderloins
½ lb shallots (pureed in food processor)
1 tsp canola oil
½ cup soy sauce
¼ cup water
2 T sugar
2 T apricot chutney or jam
1 T finely chopped ginger
1 T finely chopped garlic
¼ teaspoon all spice
¼ teaspoon chili flakes
1 lime (juice and zest)
In a saucepan cook shallots in canola oil over medium heat until softened – about 4 minutes. Stir in all ingredients except lime. Reduce by half. Stir in lime juice and zest.
Marinate pork for 4 hours using half of the marinade. Grill or pan roast pork tenderloin to an internal temperature of 150F. Rest pork for 5 minutes. Serve with remaining sauce.
Talk about a wonderful little invention. The venerable Natalie Maclean, Canadian Sommelier and Writer extrodinaire, offers up this ingenious little Food and Drink Matcher Widget. I’ll never be stuck wondering what to serve with my food again! Thank you Natalie!
The first time I had grilled corn was on Koh Phi Phi beach in Thailand and I was instantly hooked. It is so easy, healthy and delicious. You can serve them the traditional way with salt and butter, or why not be creative and try lime juice and chili powder? or a little smoked paprika? I’ve been a little obsessed of late thinking of all the different flavors I can put on an ear of grilled corn.
It’s also great to throw a few extra on the Q to make corn salad with the next day. A quick and delicious lunch! Again, so many ways to be creative. The picture here shows my fresh grilled corn tossed with sliced radish, olive oil, lime juice, fresh pepper and red pepper flakes (an interpretation of a recipe in my Martha Stewart ‘Great Food Fast’ cookbook)
But what about avocado? rice wine vinegar? green onion? BACON?! The possibilities are endless!
To grill corn, peel back husks (but don’t remove) and remove silk. Pull husks back over and soak in cold water for about 10 minutes. Drain ears. Put on hot grill for about 20 minutes or until husks are slightly charred. Serve hot.
Photo Credit: thebusybrain.com
Nothing says summer like a slab of sticky, finger licking, fall off the bone ribs.
I marinated my ribs in a dry rub for a few hours, then slow baked in a 250 degree oven for 4 hours. The rub is high in sugar so the low temperature ensures the sugar in the rub doesn’t burn. Sauce was brushed on the ribs every 15 minutes for the last hour of baking. I think these would also be great finished on the barbecue for a few minutes after baking (as the tantalizing photo on the left would suggest….thanks to Mike Johnson @ thebusybrain.com)
I parboiled a few mini red potatoes, tossed with some olive oil, salt and pepper and threw them in with the ribs. Turned out quite well!
Ingredients
Rack of pork ribs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cayenne
1. Mix all dry ingredients together and apply liberally all over ribs. Place ribs in shallow, foil covered baking pan.
2. Allow ribs to sit, covered and refrigerated, for a few hours or overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 250.
4. Cover ribs with more foil and bake for 3 hours.
5. Optional: during last hour of cooking brush ribs with favorite BBQ sauce every 15 minutes.
6. Serve with plenty of napkins!
Voila!
Obviously white cod on white rice does not get good marks for presentation. Some steamed green veggies would have worked far better no? Oh well, you’ll have to trust me on this one. The honey soy marinade is really nice. Just the right balance of salty and sweet, and it compliments rather than overpowers the mild cod.
Ingredients:
2 cod fillets
3 tbsp honey
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
dime sized slice of fresh ginger, finely minced
pinch of chili powder
1 tbsp sesame seeds (preferably black)
salt and freshly ground pepper
1. Combine the honey, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, ginger and chili powder in a baking dish. Stir well to combine.
2. Add the cod fillets and marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes
3. Place the covered baking dish in a oven preheated to 350.
4. Bake, covered, for about 30 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.
5. Remove from oven, spoon extra sauce over fish , season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Is it tough to keep up with a food blog in the summer or is it just me? Canadian summers are short and sweet (I can’t believe it’s July already!) so I endeavour to make the most of it when I can. And as much as I’ve been loving this whole learning how to cook thing, it’s really fallen by the wayside over the last few weeks in favor of creating super easy summer dinners. Usually, this means barbecued jerk chicken (I’ve been waiting since March to use the BEST authentic Jamaican Jerk sauce EVER! on the outdoor grill) and a salad of whatever is fresh and local (mmm radishes! something else I can’t get enough of). Fresh, healthy and delicious….but not much to blog about, right?.
So, I gave myself a little kick in the pants this week and decided to try something new using sweet potatoes and the barbecue.
This recipe is from The Food Network .
Note: make sure you par-cook the potatoes long enough (fork tender) before grilling. I made the mistake of taking them off the stove a bit too early and although tasty, they weren’t quite tender enough.
Ingredients
- 4 large sweet
potatoes, par-cooked and cut into 1/2-inch slices - 8 scallions
- 3/4 cup olive oil, divided
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1/2 cup cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoons honey
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1/4 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
Directions
Preheat grill to high. Brush potatoes and scallions with oil and arrange on grill. Grill potatoes for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, or until just tender. Grill scallions until softened and marked. Remove scallions from the grill and cut into thin slices.
In a large bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup olive oil, the mustard, vinegars, and honey. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add potatoes, scallions, and parsley and toss until potatoes are well coated. Transfer to a platter and serve.
Found this lovely and oh so easy recipe on the Natalie Maclean website. It’s perfect dish for a summer evening. Fresh, simple and delicious. I added one little ingredient to the sauce to make it ‘my own’ and feed my raging spice addiction: one finely chopped and de-seeded Thai red chili. A crisp green salad and bottle of cold white wine rounded out the meal perfectly.
Ingredients
1 package fresh penne, fettuccine or linguine
4 garlic cloves
4-6 green onions, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes
2 tsp dried oregano
½ tsp freshly ground pepper
½ pound uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 cups feta cheese, chopped in large bite-sized pieces
¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
Method
1. Cook pasta according to directions on package.
2. Lightly coat large wide saucepan with oil and set over medium heat. When hot, add garlic and onions. Stir often until onions start to soften.
3. Add tomatoes, oregano and pepper.
4. Increase heat to medium high. Stir often, uncovered, until reduced by half.
5. Add shrimp. Continue to cook, uncovered, stirring frequently until shrimp turn pink and are firm. Remove from heat.
6. When pasta is cooked, drain well. Immediately stir into sauce with shrimp until evenly coated.
7. Gently stir in crumbled feta and parsley.
I recently spent a wonderful weekend at a chalet in Ellicottville, NY with 4 fantastic women (my fantastic self included). As usual 90% of our conversation was about…you guessed it FOOD! (oh, that’s not what you had guessed?….what do you think the other 10% was about?).
Nancy brought some amazing stuffed mushrooms, meatballs (made with grape jam!) and dips (you’ll find the recipes here soon). Lu brought some delicious Indian spices and we whipped up an amazing feast; spicy cauliflower, chicken korma and saffron rice. You won’t believe how easy it is! I’ll be blogging about all of this shortly, but first I had to bring to your attention a tasty appetizer idea compliments of Karla; prosciutto wrapped figs! (I love prosciutto wrapped anything, really) there are a few different variations of this recipe to be found online, for example prosciutto wrapped figs stuffed with goat cheese and walnuts and drizzled with balsamic. But I was planning a little birthday fete for my mom and knowing how much she loves blue cheese, I decided to make my figs stuffed with blue cheese and pecans, and drizzled with honey (recipe adapted from Martha Stewart ). Considering the oohs, aaahs and moans elicited from the mouths of guests, you would’ve thought there was a whole different kind of party going on!. It was really THAT good.
One little note before I get to the recipe. Figs are expensive (15 figs =$25) So, instead of using 1 whole fig per appetizer, I cut them completely in half and doubled the recipe. The recipe below reflects the changes I made to the original one I found on the Martha Stewart site.
Ingredients
12 fresh black mission figs, stems removed
3 ounces blue cheese cut into 24 pieces
24 pecan halves
12 thin slices proscuitto, cut in half lengthwise
olive oil, for brushing
honey, for serving
1. Slice the figs through the center vertically. Top each half with a cube of cheese and pecan half. Wrap figs with a strip of prosciutto, ensuring the ends of the meat overlap (you could use toothpicks to secure, but I found this wasn’t necessary as the meat sticks if you overlap it). Brush each with olive oil, and grill over medium-high heat.
2. Transfer to a serving platter and drizzle with honey. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Makes 24 appetizers.
This is my absolute favorite summer ‘go-to’ salad. It is so fresh, so tasty and so easy to make. Anytime I have brought this salad to family picnics or al fresco dinner parties it is always met with warm reviews. It can be served as a main, but I find it stars as a side dish accompanied by a heaping plate of Asian inspired barbecue ribs, steamed rice and a cold beer or crisp pinot grigio. mmmm.
It’s also quite economical as a bag of pre-prepared coleslaw is just $1.49 at the grocery store. If you like to cook a lot of Asian inspired food like I do you probably have the other ingredients such as fish sauce and rice vinegar kicking around in your fridge. If not, these ingredients can be easily sourced from any Asian grocery store. You could also substitute the fish sauce for soy, the rice vinegar for white wine vinegar, and the thai red chili’s for a pinch or two of hot pepper flakes or a hot pepper paste such as sriracha. I have also made it with shrimp and mango in place of the chicken for an extra exotic vibe. That’s what really makes this salad so great, it’s so versatile. Have fun with the mix of ingredients in the dressing, I played around with the recipe a few times until a got the right mix of tangy lime and spicy pepper that suited my taste buds (reflected in the recipe below)
Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts cooked and shredded
1 bag prepared coleslaw mix
fresh mint leaves
fresh coriander
cashews or peanuts
Dressing
2 thai red chili’s, seeded and minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp white sugar
1 tbsp rice vinegar
3 tbsp fresh lime or lemon juice
3 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp salad oil (I use 1 tbsp sesame and 1 tbsp sunflower)
1 medium onion peeled and thinly sliced
fresh ground black pepper
1. Combine the shredded chicken and coleslaw in a large bowl.
2. Mix all of the dressing ingredients in a bowl. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Pour over salad and toss well to combine.
3. Top salad with torn mint leaves, coriander and crushed cashews. Divide among 4-6 bowls if serving as a side dish and 2-3 plates if serving as a main.
Enjoy!
My lovely and talented friend Denise (www.theswellelife.com) gave me this vintage 1930’s tea set for a wedding gift last summer. She came across the perfectly preserved set at an antique shop in England (can’t remember where, exactly). The set comes from the SoHo Pottery Company that operated in Cobridge, England from 1906 to 1944.
I love the clean lines of all the pieces and the geometric patterns in the art deco design. The circular motif reminds of the symbol of yin and yang. According to ancient chinese philosophy, yin and yang represents natural dualities, such as female and male, and are complementary opposites within a greater whole. Yin and Yang characteristics are rooted together, yet opposing forces. They transform each other and are balanced.
Quite apropos for a wedding gift, don’t you think?
